Duncan's (sort of) project - 1940 Ford

[Duncan]

3 hours ago, EDM620 said:

What impedence does the float work through? I recall there are different ranges on the senders

 

I *think* 0-70-ish.  Not sure if I remember that correctly or not.  And yes, every manufacturer seems to have a different impedance range, for sure. 

 

The original OEM senders worked in the range of the repros, but somehow had some other sensor involved.  I am on a hot rod board similar to Ratsun, and they all told the same story as mine.  The bottom of the gauge is accurate, and when the tank is full, the needle shows about 3/4 full.

 

The gauges are still working on 6 volts, and they are very slow to get to their actual reading levels.  I don't mind that, and they are just working normally as they did way back in 1940.  I've quickly gotten used to the fuel range indicator, and it's not been a problem either.   Luckily, it's accurate when it gets down to empty.

 

My repro sender was about $35, and an original is very hard to come by, and they are expensive.   I love the original gauges, and the art deco styling is much cooler than the aftermarket ones in it before. To me, it's no problem, and I love having the originals in there. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 12 by Duncan

[EDM620]

43 minutes ago, Duncan said:

the art deco styling is much cooler

So true!

 

I found a chart that shows what some of the sender specs can be

So not just a variation in the Ohm scale, but widely and in reverse as well.

[datsunfreak]

15 hours ago, EDM620 said:

So true!

 

I found a chart that shows what some of the sender specs can be

So not just a variation in the Ohm scale, but widely and in reverse as well.

 

FWIW, I checked my '67 Mustang sender and it reads around 140-20. 

[Duncan]

1 hour ago, datsunfreak said:

 

FWIW, I checked my '67 Mustang sender and it reads around 140-20. 

 

The last couple of project cars I've had, I had to get the senders either replaced or repaired.  I just can't remember the details.  I'm entering the Joe Biden phase when it comes to remembering impedance. 🙂

 

I actually just checked and from '36-'54 Ford used the exact same sender, but the float and arm changed for different models.  Apparently, these were made by just one manufacturer.  In '54 Ford went to using 12 volt systems, and apparently the senders went to a more standardized way of doing things along with Chevy and Mopar.  Of course, I read this on the internet, so it's just HAS to be true. 

Edited April 12 by Duncan

[datsunfreak]

57 minutes ago, Duncan said:

In '54 Ford went to using 12 volt systems, and apparently the senders went to a more standardized way of doing things along with Chevy and Mopar.  

 

It would seem since this is a variable ground that voltage wouldn't matter?

 

But I am also not a professional tamer of electrons.  😁

 

[EDM620]

3 hours ago, datsunfreak said:

But I am also not a professional tamer of electrons.  😁

Perhaps your method needs to be different

🤣

[Duncan]

On 4/12/2024 at 1:10 PM, datsunfreak said:

 

It would seem since this is a variable ground that voltage wouldn't matter?

 

But I am also not a professional tamer of electrons.  😁

 

 

 

Thinking about it, I would guess that the gauge lighting would need to be different.  And somewhere else, I remember somebody saying that Ford ran gauges at 6 volts up until the late 70's.  They used a voltage drop somewhere in the electrical system for the gauges.  (I would think that also include the dash itself, but I can't verify crap..) 

 

Al I know is that the stock gauges are cool, and I'm living in perfect coexistence with the way they are now 🙂

 

 

[Duncan]

And also, I'm doing a 720 seat currently and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...

 

 

 

 

Fun fun fun on ze Autobahn....

 

 

 

[Duncan]

The 720 bottom cushion done.  Using grey again for decent neutral color that goes with most interior colors.  Trying to keep similar design as most trucks have very simple interiors.  More blah, blah, blah. 

 

I might cut down the next one. I know the hot rod guys are looking for seats around 44" wide or less.

 

[Duncan]

I got the 720 seat done in under a month.  That's hella-fast for me..

 

Edited May 14 by Duncan

[Duncan]

Finishing off my Datsun trifecta of truck seats.  I picked up this 521 seat.

 

Not only it is the nicest seat I've bought, it was insanely cheap. and a very quick trip to pick it up.

 

 

 

Surprise.  It was a cover over a cover...again.  No surprise again, but the cover underneath was not the original cover..

 

 

This is me lifting the seat after freeing the outer cover and discovering the cover underneath.  No surprise living 90 miles from Mexico.  When I was growing up, everybody took their cars down to Tijuana for upholstery.  It was crazy cheap compared to US prices, but I'm sure this is why.

 

 

When I freed the second cover and lifted the seat off of it, there were two shop towels, and this folded up white cloth thing under the seat cover.

 

I was surprised/not surprised when I unfolded the white thing..

 

 

There was a brand new lab coat type of thing folded up, and used as seat filler. (along with the two shop towels) 

 

You guys that have known me here on Ratsun quite a while and followed my wagon resto remembered that I found all kinds of wacky stuff as that progressed.  I think this one even beat the iron-on denim patch used over the floor drain holes instead of rubber plugs.

 

I just had to post this up for the lulz......

 

The springs and support structure is really in good shape on the seat.  It's been the best one yet.  I had to a little welding on the seat release mechanism that locks and unlocks to tilt it forward, but it was a quick cut and re-weld.  This one will probably be available to buy around $125 when I'm done.  I got it really cheap, and it is in nice shape.  It's a win/win. 

 

I might even throw in the lab coat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 19 by Duncan

[Rustbin]

They just govered it, I've seen this more in old furniture than in automotive but when you want to do it cheep and fast you just gover the old stuff and they throw in whatever to make up for the sacked out padding. The shifter indent looks pretty good on the 720 seat, these are usually a bit of a pain to do without wrinkles. You must be enjoying it to go for another.

[Duncan]

16 hours ago, Rustbin said:

They just govered it, I've seen this more in old furniture than in automotive but when you want to do it cheep and fast you just gover the old stuff and they throw in whatever to make up for the sacked out padding. The shifter indent looks pretty good on the 720 seat, these are usually a bit of a pain to do without wrinkles. You must be enjoying it to go for another.

 

 

I like taking on and learning new stuff.  I understand adding some fill material, but shop towels and a lab coat was pretty funny, IMHO..

 

As far as that indent section goes, I actually made that curve in three sections.  The center part of that curve doesn't really have any attachment points behind it, so I had to make it quite a bit longer than the two outside pieces.  Seemed to work out okay, so I went with it 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 19 by Duncan

[Duncan]

I'm talking with a nice Ratsun guy here that is interested in the 521 seat, so I am going to document this one in a but more detail.

 

Didn't get a before shot, but here it is cleaned up and ready for primer and paint.  This seat was really in nice shape and other than some spiders and dirt, there was only some minor surface rust.  The springs were all in nice shape, and not a single broken one on it.

 

 

All primed. Old school red oxide primer.

 

 

I know this is a my '40 ford thread, but I'm not doing much to it other than driving it and enjoying the shit out of it!  The power steering pump is growling a bit, and I still haven't found anyone to swap the steering column, but I have a few more people to talk to that look promising.

 

 

[Ooph!]

5 hours ago, Duncan said:

I'm talking with a nice Ratsun guy here that is interested in the 521 seat, so I am going to document this one in a but more detail.

 

Didn't get a before shot, but here it is cleaned up and ready for primer and paint.  This seat was really in nice shape and other than some spiders and dirt, there was only some minor surface rust.  The springs were all in nice shape, and not a single broken one on it.

 

 

All primed. Old school red oxide primer.

 

 

I know this is a my '40 ford thread, but I'm not doing much to it other than driving it and enjoying the shit out of it!  The power steering pump is growling a bit, and I still haven't found anyone to swap the steering column, but I have a few more people to talk to that look promising.

 

 

 

Power steering pump growling - are you losing fluid at all? they tend to growl when they get air in them and need to be bled.

 

Edited May 20 by Ooph!

[Duncan]

17 hours ago, Ooph! said:

 

Power steering pump growling - are you losing fluid at all? they tend to growl when they get air in them and need to be bled.

 

 

Yeah, I did bleed it and got a few bits of air, but it is still noisy. 

 

The strange thing is it has a billet aftermarket remote reservoir, and the system vent is a small hole right through the center of the cap.  Underneath, there is no baffle or anything deflecting or stopping the fluid from leaking out the vent when it returns under pressure.   So, yes it does leak a small bit, but the pump still makes some noise regardless of fluid level.  There is no level indicator at all, and since it's making the noise, I run it fairly low to slow up the leak.  The noise isn't that bad, and the lower fluid level didn't make any difference in the pump noise. 

 

I'm just going to replace them both, and hopefully be done with it.

 

 

 

 

[Ooph!]

If its a regular steering box the method I use to bleed it is lift the front end off the ground, engine off ,  slowly turn the wheel lock to lock about 25 times , checking the steering fluid every 5 times or so because it will dump it and make a mess.

[Duncan]

19 hours ago, Ooph! said:

If its a regular steering box the method I use to bleed it is lift the front end off the ground, engine off ,  slowly turn the wheel lock to lock about 25 times , checking the steering fluid every 5 times or so because it will dump it and make a mess.

 

As the Mandolorian says "That is the way". 

 

I first did it with the engine off about a dozen times.  Then my neighbor started the car and repeated the procedure with the engine running while I had the cap off the reservoir and closely watched for geysers.  No eruptions, thankfully. When I'm driving it, the system pressure increases and it does blow up through the vent hole due to it's terrible design flaw.  It's getting the boot soon enough..

Edited May 23 by Duncan

[Duncan]

I gotta say, I wanted to do the 720 just to do different seats, and the flakes and bullshit form potential buyers is really unbelievable.  I got very good inquiries from the 620 seat, and already have interest on the 521. 

 

I keep getting "I would like to buy your seat for (insert crazy low ball offer here) dollars."  And I had two people say there were on their way with cash, and never showed up or called..

 

If the crap continues, I might just hold a drawing here on Ratsun, and give the damn thing away.

 

My wife and I were laughing about it, and I mentioned this hobby (even if I give the shit away) is still much cheaper than snowboarding, skiing, or golfing..

 

 

 

[EDM620]

7 hours ago, Duncan said:

still much cheaper than snowboarding, skiing, or 

If your body can still do that stuff, only my brain thinks I still can 😁

[MikeRL411]

3 minutes ago, EDM620 said:

If your body can still do that stuff, only my brain thinks I still can 😁

In my heart and mind I am 21, but lately my body does not agree with that,

[Duncan]

1 hour ago, EDM620 said:

If your body can still do that stuff, only my brain thinks I still can 😁

 

I took a spill in my driveway a few weeks ago, and fell directly on my hip.  I moved it around a bit before I got up, thinking I might have broke it.  I had a big lump on it, but now I think twice before I do certain things..

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Duncan]

Got the seat cushion and the back all cleaned and painted.  I also put effort into cleaning the mechanism for tilting the seat.  The catches get crud and rust, so after I painted the outer parts, I cleaned and sprayed liberal amounts of silicone spray and they are working smooth and quiet now..

 

I'm going to try to get the burlap, jute padding, and foam done over the long weekend.  

 

 

 

Have a nice holiday weekend.

 

 

[MikeRL411]

14 hours ago, Duncan said:

Got the seat cushion and the back all cleaned and painted.  I also put effort into cleaning the mechanism for tilting the seat.  The catches get crud and rust, so after I painted the outer parts, I cleaned and sprayed liberal amounts of silicone spray and they are working smooth and quiet now..

 

I'm going to try to get the burlap, jute padding, and foam done over the long weekend.  

 

 

 

Have a nice holiday weekend.

 

 

 

Go to a local move yourself store and buy a role of foam non-bubble wrap [used to cushion dishes] Use it to line your 

seat above the burlap, No crud to fall on your floor,

[Duncan]

9 hours ago, MikeRL411 said:

Go to a local move yourself store and buy a role of foam non-bubble wrap [used to cushion dishes] Use it to line your 

seat above the burlap, No crud to fall on your floor,

 

I wasn't finished with the seat yet.  There are quite a few ways to do things and get the same result.

 

The burlap is used to stop the springs from wearing into the padding.  I use jute padding because it is a very dense material, and it doesn't add much thickness.  It also smooths out some high/low spots.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The same applies to the seat bottom.  I'm not going to photograph it, because it's the exact same stuff.

 

I'm taking the '40 Ford to a show next Saturday, and it needs a lot of cleanup.  I'll get the bottom ready to go probably by Monday, then I have to start cleaning up the ford because it needs a lot of elbow grease, and I can only work so many hours per day these days. 

 

I told myself no more car shows, but this is a local show, and it's a really nice wooded area, and it's on grass.  I took my old Sunny quite a few years back and won Best in the Japanese Class.  I also took the blue 510 wagon, but entered it as a non-judged car.  I did the same with the '40. 

 

I've been lucky to win quite a few things, and I honestly don't care to compete.  A few people get really snarky if they don't win, and I'm really not about that at all.  I just like to go and talk to folks about cars.  To me, that's much more fun.  

 

But, the Ford is embarrassingly dirty, and it urgently needs to be cleaned and detailed.

 

    

 

 

 

Edited May 26 by Duncan